OctoFox sits at the intersection of operating leadership and capital allocation. We acquire and rebuild companies through our own vehicle, and advise others using the same playbook — earned through twenty years of restructuring heritage businesses across Europe and the United States.
Investor · Operator · Strategic Advisor
Edouard Burrus is an international entrepreneur and strategic advisor with more than twenty years of experience acquiring, restructuring, and scaling heritage and consumer brands across Europe and North America. His career sits at the convergence of operating leadership, corporate finance, and private equity.
He has held executive ownership roles at two of Europe's most iconic heritage houses — Borsalino, Italy's oldest hat manufacturer (founded 1857), and Fogal of Switzerland, the century-old Swiss luxury hosiery brand. In both cases he led the acquisition, executed the operational turnaround, and rebuilt the U.S. commercial footprint from the ground up.
Edouard is also Chairman of La Praly SA, his Paris-based investment vehicle dedicated to acquiring and turning around businesses facing operational or financial complexity. OctoFox is the natural evolution of that work — extending his platform to the United States, the market he knows most intimately after five years living and studying there, and where the bulk of his commercial restructuring experience has been deployed.
He holds a Master's degree in Strategy and International Business Engineering from ESSEC Business School (Paris & Singapore) and a Bachelor's degree from Northeastern University in Boston. He is a native French speaker, fluent in English, with working knowledge of Italian and Spanish.
These aren't slogans. They are the conditions under which we engage, invest, and operate — and the standards by which we expect to be measured.
Every engagement — advisory or investment — is led personally by the founder. There are no junior associates rotating through the work. Clients and counterparties speak with the decision-maker.
We have run companies. We have made the payroll, negotiated with distributors, signed the term sheets, and lived with the consequences. Our advice carries the weight of having done the thing.
When we invest, we are not building toward a five-year fund deadline. We hold what works. We rebuild what is broken. We exit only when the company is materially better than the one we bought.
The interesting opportunities sit between the United States and Europe. We are fluent in both — culturally, operationally, and structurally — and most of our value creation has come from bridging the two.
We have a particular affection for companies with history — brands that have earned their place over decades but lost their way in the present. Reviving them is harder than building from zero. It is also more meaningful.
The most important conversations happen privately. We protect our counterparties, our portfolio, and our process. What we say publicly is a fraction of what we do.
A selected history of executive roles, acquisitions, and operating mandates across Europe and North America.
Co-managed the complex acquisition and strategic revitalization of Italy's oldest hat company, founded 1857. Led international operational restructuring, brand repositioning toward premium and luxury, and the rebuilding of U.S. distribution — renegotiating wholesale agreements, rationalizing underperforming accounts, and reestablishing relationships with premium retail.
Directed the acquisition and full operational turnaround of a 100-year-old Swiss luxury hosiery and apparel brand. Led financial restructuring, cost-base realignment, retail network rationalization, rebranding, digital channel expansion, and the strategic U.S. commercial reset — through the most challenging operating environment in modern memory.
Chairman of a specialized investment vehicle dedicated to acquiring and comprehensively turning around businesses facing operational or financial challenges. Full-lifecycle involvement — from due diligence and deal structuring through hands-on operational restructuring, financial repair, and market repositioning.
Director and co-head of an M&A and corporate advisory firm focused on private equity transactions across lifestyle, industrial, and real estate sectors. Headquartered in Geneva with offices in Toronto and Milan — executing buy-side and sell-side mandates across Europe and North America.
Whether you're considering a transition, exploring an acquisition, or facing a problem that warrants a senior operator — start with a conversation.
